Found Along The Way

Chapter One

"Do you think he thinks about me?"

"Hmm?"

"Daniel. Do you think he still thinks about me, the way I do about him?"

"Anya, it's been 9 months. You have to move on."

She sighed, and rolled back onto the bed staring up at the dull, cream ceiling; a thing she'd looked up at many times before for so many reasons over the years.

"I tried. And I thought I had but..."

"Girl he sucked. You deserve way better."

"Ugh, what's wrong with me Lina?"

She covered her face, replacing the sight of the ceiling with one even more familiar, the friendly darkness of hands over eyes, and sighed once again.

"You just don't have a single thing to move on to, not even particularly friend-wise. You need to get back out there."

"Hey, that's so harsh! I have friends."

"I know, but you need something new, something different from your little bubble."

"I wouldn't even know where to start looking for that."

"You can start by coming with me to my writers' group tonight?"

Anya laughed and looked up at her best friend, waiting for her to say that it was just a joke.

"I'm serious! It's a start, right?"

"Lina, come on I'm not even a writer."

"You don't have to be! You can be my... assistant."

They both snorted at the idea.

"Fine, I'll come with."

"Good. A start."

It seemed that everywhere Anya went, she saw Daniel. Ever since the break-up she'd become introverted and wanted nothing but her home, art group, and Daniel (of course), but she obviously couldn't have the last one. And so her life had become simple. Lina, sleep, art, and the thoughts about him. For nine whole months she had been almost subconsciously waiting for him to turn up at the door so she could jump into his arms and kiss him. Her quiet days became almost filled with imagined conversations between them, and all the bad about him seemed to have faded away. Because in her mind, he was perfect. She'd broken up with him around October, a week before Halloween, feeling ignored and disrespected, for reasons she'd come to forget the significance of. A day went by and post-breakup regrets came rushing and she'd begged for him back. Of course, he said no, and Anya couldn't help but beat herself up afterwards for it being all her fault.

"Is it because I wouldn't have sex with him soon enough?"

"Anya, trust me if it was then he didn't deserve you in the slightest."

"Was I too distant? Or didn't dress right?"

"Love, you can't keep questioning and placing the blame on yourself. The fact that you feel this way shows you loved him and wouldn't ever do anything wrong or hurt him. He made you cry so much, and you treated him like a prince."

"Thank you for being my best friend."

"You'd do the same for me."

Every time a car went by she'd wonder if it was him, and every time she did something awkward she'd laugh, expecting to hear his laugh following. But no. He was a ghost to her.

Writer's group, an experiment to burst Anya's lonely bubble, it seemed like a good idea and Lina enjoyed it here so maybe it wouldn't be so terrible.

The room was mildly loud with chatter as the writers sat at a large table. There were about ten of them, including Lina and Anya. The group was led by a large framed, warm looking woman wearing an exotic dress, with a colourful bandana wrapped around her dark curls that yelled her expression.

"Everyone take a seat! I hope you all found the time to do the assignment I set, I'm talking to you Jeremy, A hangover is not an excuse for taking a week to write one paragraph. Let's start with what you've done."

She was funny, charismatic, and Anya immediately took to her. One by one the writers all read out their stories. Starting with a gentle-looking man named Lucas. Then Ida, Kiran, Clara, Maria, David, and Jeremy; But that first one just happened to catch her eye in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. He was tall, tan, hot as hell and he told his story with the softest of voices, Anya could feel herself being drawn to it.

By the end of the group, she left feeling refreshed, almost inspired by these insanely talented people.

But oh my, there was one in particular.

"So, how do you feel?"

"Good, I feel good."

"Just good? You were looking at Lucas an awful lot..."

"What? No."

"Anya, you are a terrible liar! You like him."

Anya smiled and sat next to her best friend on the bus stop bench.

"Maybe..."

"Trust me, I find him cute as hell, and if I wasn't tied down by my loser boyfriend then I would be all over him."

Anya burst out laughing.

"I don't know if I'd go that far Lina, he just seems sweet, someone I'd maybe be friends with, in some alternate reality. But the funny thing is I didn't think about Daniel even once in there."

Lina grabbed her hands.

"See, you needed this... So when's the wedding?"

Anya shoved her playfully, laughing.

"I'm not, like, into him, I just think he's cute."

"I could set you up."

"No way, that's far too forward, I don't even know the guy. What if he doesn't like me back?"

"Come to my writers' group again, next week. We'll go for drinks afterwards, since it's Jeremy's birthday, and you can slip an introduction in there. Besides, you don't know what could happen!"

Anya gave Lina a suspicious look. She had a way of convincing her to do things, which stemmed from all of the outrageous trouble they'd get into as kids, Lina making Anya laugh enough to follow her everywhere.

Their friendship was one that lasted forever, they were opposite ends of magnets being drawn to each-other, the north to the other's south. Anya would be in bed every day, wallowing in breakup self-pity if it weren't for her kickass best friend who dragged her out of it, and got her smiling again. She was more than grateful for her, for having the joy of living with her despite the arguments they were bound to have, she was her best friend and family to Anya.